Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister in charge of Poland’s security services, made the appeal after two Ukrainian nationals were arrested last week on suspicion of spying on Polish military infrastructure and supply routes used to deliver aid to Ukraine, the Kyiv Post reported.
Authorities said the pair had been working for a foreign intelligence service.
“I appeal to Ukrainian citizens who are in Poland not to be fooled by a few thousand euros into engaging in such activities,” Siemoniak said on private broadcaster Polsat News.
He added: “Our security services are effective. Why spend years in prison? Why serve Russia, which invaded Ukraine?”
He said Russian operatives often entice Ukrainians with promises of large payouts, only to abandon them once their missions are complete.
Polish security services refer to such recruits as “disposable agents,” he said, adding that “Russia doesn’t care about their fate at all.”
“We have seen an increase in this type of activity over the past few weeks. They serve to prepare acts of sabotage,” Siemoniak said.
“The sad truth is that Ukrainian citizens are most often hired for this purpose," he added.
Poland has been on heightened alert for espionage and hybrid attacks—both physical and digital—linked to Russia and its ally Belarus.
Western officials have accused Moscow of waging hybrid warfare against NATO countries through sabotage, electronic interference, GPS jamming and arson designed to destabilize societies.
Polish authorities say 55 people suspected of working for Russian intelligence have been detained in the country since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last Tuesday that eight people were recently detained across Poland on suspicion of "preparing acts of sabotage."
Three Ukrainian nationals were among them, suspected of having been involved in a plot to transport explosives across Poland and Romania to Ukraine, according to security services spokesman Jacek Dobrzyński.
In May, nine alleged “mercenaries”—citizens of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus—were arrested on suspicion of carrying out sabotage attacks including beatings and arson, the Kyiv Post reported.
(gs)
Source: Kyiv Post